Kumir, Chapter 6: Plots and Foils

After the guard had opened the door to a small dormitory-style room, her clothes and belongings neatly stacked on the bed, he’d shut the door behind her with a deliberate click. She didn’t bother to check the knob, hearing the tiny extra click of the lock. She dug into a pocket of her folded denim jeans and pulled out a small box. It was a dark wood with brass fittings and with swirling pearlescent inlays. On one side was a rounded hemisphere of black rubber, about an inch and a half in diameter, which she snapped off and fitted over one ear. A long black cord coiled down from her ear into the side of the box. She pressed her thumbs into a swirl of brass and mother-of-pearl on the face and whispered softly: “Audio mihi.” The box let out a deep click and the side slid gracefully up on a telescoping brass rod, tilting back and forth like a small radar dish. Inside the base of the receiver were several small rheostat knobs and a dial with a red needle waving irregularly as the rectangular antenna rotated. Jane’s earpiece squawked a hiss of static, and she bit her lip as she slowly turned the dial, patiently adjusting until the red needle settled into a steady state. The little rectangular antenna was steadily pointing towards the wall opposite the bed. A faint aroma of ozone that came from the device, and Jane smiled. She contentedly perched on the bed, legs folded easily under her ass, still pink from Tony’s spanking, and closed her eyes to listen.

” – I don’t care how good she was, she’s fucking dangerous, Tony! Can you believe that she topped us both? From the bottom?”

“I know, Kitten, I know…” Tony’s voice still sounded confused and tired with the post-orgasm rush of endorphins,and Jane quirked a little smile. “But that’s just why we should use her. Imagine what that tape would have been worth if we put it on the site – what it could do for your career – ”

Jane winced as a shriek filled her earphones. “That tape of me licking your jizz off her foot!You’d love that, wouldn’t you? I am always a fucking top, asshole!” Kitten’s voice sounded close to tears. “I’m not going out a fucking cumslut, you bastard. I’m Kitten Ma’am, and just because some skank with a hyperactive tongue got me to come a couple of times doesn’t mean she’s worth more than m – ” She cut herself off before she could finish the statement. “Worth anything,” she amended.

“She’s worth a fucking fortune to the right clients, Kitten, and you know it!” Tony’s voice was hard and bitter. “Our cam girls are wearing out, and the fucking Incubikers won’t let any new talent through. Site traffic is down twenty-fucking-percent and falling, and we need fresh blood like her, who won’t be scared of those fucking clowns across the street.” There was a sound of shuffling, and Tony’s voice changed, as if he’d moved across the room. “Look at how she took them out! I’ve never seen anyone use a snakewhip like that! Never!”

There was a silence, and then Kitten’s voice came softer. “Yes. You’re right, dear, we could make a fortune from her on camera. But she’s still too dangerous. Talent like that is never satisfied with just being talent. You and I both know that.” Something changed in her tone, a note of scheming malice creeping into her words. “But there’s nothing that says that we have to keep her after we get enough content to make up our losses.”

“Now you’re talking my language, shela…” Tony’s voice took on a low, calculated tone. “We could use her for a while – fucking use her up, in fact, wear down some of those edges, push her hard – and then when her cunt is fucked dry, we show the Doukas boys her early tapes and offer her as a kind of…peace offering.” He giggled, then, with a sound like a flatulent hyena. “We’ll just get her working an ‘exclusive’ contract, make up a production schedule from hell, and when she breaks down trying to keep up, dump the remains on the Doukas fuckers.”

Kitten’s voice was almost cheerful. “We’ll give her the works – speed in her water, sand in the lube, pthalates in her toys… Just let them try and pawn her off on a client then. They’ll be lucky to get a two dollar handjob out of her by the time we’re done. Meanwhile, we get the little bitch fucking her brains out for us on camera. Hell, with any luck she’ll fall for the profit share deal and we won’t have to pay her at all.” There was the sound of a click, and then Kitten said “Mickey! Get Jane in here. Be nice to her – tell her we’ve got an offer she’s gonna love…”

Moments later Mickey tiptoed to Jane’s door and opened it abruptly, as if he hoped to catch her in some illicit act. He frowned as he looked in the room. Jane was sitting fully dressed on the edge of the bed. She looked up at him unsurprised, and sighed. She held up a hand as he opened his mouth, and stopped the words.

“No, Schmuckballs. No words. It’s hard enough as it is. But I’ve come to realize,” she stood quickly, and he stepped back, threatened by the enigmatic tiny woman. “It’s just not gonna work between us.” She sighed theatrically. “Let’s not make this more complicated than it needs to be. ” She tapped him lightly on the chest.as she walked past him into the hall, “I think we both know this is for the best.”

Walking down the corridors to Tony and Kitten’s bedroom, Jane stood outside the door expectantly, not bothering to knock. A moment later it opened, and Nesmith stood there, looking annoyed. “Ah, Jane, m’love, come in.” Jane didn’t even look at him as she walked in and directly over to the side of the bed. “Kitten and I were just talking about how, um, impressed we were by your audition. And we think that we have a place for you here at Kitten’s Toy Shoppe that will…what the bloody hell are you doing?”

Jane had showed no sign of hearing a single word he said. Instead she was rummaging under the bed, ignoring Kitten reclining on the satin coverlet. The older woman had a strange expression on her face somewhere between anger and confusion. Finally, anger won. “Hey, little fucktrash, my husband’s talking to you! He’s about to offer you a sweet profit sharing deal so you’d better listen up.”

“Aha!” Jane suddenly exclaimed, and her hand came up from under the bed, holding up the ring with the amber stone set in it. “Good thing I found it. I was about to have to look in the only other place I might have lost it.” She looked meaningfully at Kitten’s crotch, and the woman suddenly shifted and crossed her legs. Jane chuckled. “A little late to play demure, babe.” Standing, she sauntered towards the door. “Profit sharing, huh?” Her face looked vaguely amused. “Thanks just the same, I prefer cash directly into my account. And to be honest, I don’t know that I really could do much more business with you. I just get the feeling you might…I don’t know…take advantage of me, somehow?” She delicately extended the middle finger of her left hand, slipping the ring over it, and it glinted anachronistically warm in the cold black and steel décor. “Thank you both, though. It has been educational.” She patted Tony’s chest, and reached up to mime a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for the pedicure, big boy. Call me when you’re ready to try the other foot.”

She was almost to the bottom of the stairs before their arguing voices raised enough to reach her. Glancing up, she saw the balcony of the third floor again filled with the faces of the camgirls and boys, all looking down at her with blank, weary resignation occasionally mitigated by curiosity. Jane looked back at them all for a long moment, expression thoughtful – and then she blew them a collective kiss and sauntered out the door.